When mounting a signal sensor assembly on a movable platform such as an aircraft for thereby detecting transmissions from, e.g., satellites or ground-based objects, it has heretofore been necessary to physically align the sensor assembly with high precision to a reference coordinate system for the platform. That is, since commands to orient the sensor are likely to be from the platform coordinate system frame of reference, any misalignment of the sensor assembly will cause the sensor of the sensor assembly to point in a different direction from what was intended. Moreover, since the sensor assembly typically includes in addition to the sensor (e.g. antenna), a sensor mount upon which both the sensor and one or more sensor orienting actuators are provided, wherein the actuators orient the sensor according to a reference coordinate system associated with the mounts Accordingly, the alignment of the mount reference coordinate system with the platform reference coordinate system has been a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. The process has heretofore required that technicians iteratively position the sensor assembly on the platform, take measurements to determine whether the mount and the platform coordinate systems are sufficiently aligned, and if not, then at least loosen the mount from the platform and adjust its orientation with respect to the platform, or provide shims between the mount and the platform.
Accordingly, it would be very advantageous to be able to secure the sensor assembly to the platform substantially without concern for aligning the mount and platform coordinate systems, and determine a misalignment compensation coordinate system transformation that can subsequently be utilized for accurately pointing the sensor in substantially any desired direction.